Identifying and understanding the combination of factors that leads to autism is an ongoing scientific challenge. This developmental disorder appears in the first three years of life, and affects the brain's normal development of social and communication skills. Results from a study led by Larry T. Reiter, PhD, at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) are providing significant insights into the disorder through the study of a specific form of autism caused by a duplication on chromosome 15. This month his work appears in Autism Research, the official journal of the International Society for Autism Research.